In 1870, federal, state and local government spending amounted to 7.3% of national income. Today it consumes 36.6%. http://cvote.to/9M

State Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi says he is not running for the Senate seat held by phony pro-lifer Bob Casey, Jr., D-PA. Drats! I wish Pileggi had run. http://cvote.to/9J

Good news: The Massachusetts Medical Society reaffirms its opposition to physician-assisted suicide. http://cvote.to/9L

]]>http://www.catholicvote.org/reader-cain-endorsing-newt-palin-praises-santorum-doctors-in-ma-oppose-euthanasia/feed/0Will Rick Santorum Be the Next Up?http://www.catholicvote.org/will-rick-santorum-be-the-next-up/
http://www.catholicvote.org/will-rick-santorum-be-the-next-up/#commentsMon, 28 Nov 2011 16:24:48 +0000Kathryn Lopezhttp://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=23346I confess the title was a tease … I do not know the answer to that question and I may not care as much as I would encourage you to read what he had to say at a forum in Iowa right before Thanksgiving. Since Romney is not officially competing there, it was not a well-covered event. But it was something special, and I write about it in my syndicated column this week.

]]>http://www.catholicvote.org/will-rick-santorum-be-the-next-up/feed/0Thank You, Sarah Palinhttp://www.catholicvote.org/thank-you-sarah-palin/
http://www.catholicvote.org/thank-you-sarah-palin/#commentsThu, 06 Oct 2011 21:49:46 +0000Kathryn Lopezhttp://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=21563Apart from opinions about whether or not she should have thrown her hat into the Republican presidential-primary ring, I firmly believe that Sarah Palin has been a gift to American culture. People criticize her (and then some) and the prominence of her family, but I’m grateful we’ve met Trig Palin.

I’m grateful that his mother helped shatter the mainstream media myth that a woman in politics surrender femininity.

Most importantly, though, before her, I’m not sure how many of us realized that upwards of 90 percent of children expected to be born with Down Syndrome are aborted.

I first wrote about Sarah Palin in July of 2008, when I noticed the beautiful notes people from all over the country were leaving on the relatively little-know governor’s website, welcoming her son into the world.

People like Joe from Waterbury, Conn., who wrote:

Dear Governor Palin and family, I just read a story in the newspaper about the birth of your new son. My daughter, Martha, was born 28 years ago with Down syndrome. She has done very well. There is no need to be overly nervous. Things will work out for you and your family. Down syndrome is probably the most studied aspect of special education. The idea that Down syndrome children bring joy is really true. Make sure he is included with everything that the rest of your kids do. I respect the choice that you and your husband have made. I know from experience that you will be pleasantly rewarded and surprised (in the good sense) by the choice you have made.

In her post-campaign book Going Rogue, Palin wrote about “the number of special-needs kids and adults” who would show up on the McCain-Palin campaign trail, inspired by Trig’s presence in her life and the campaign.

About a rally in Pensacola, Fla., she wrote:

Up in the stands, I spotted a group of 15 kids with Down syndrome wearing shirts that said, WE LOVE TRIG! and TRIG IN THE WHITE HOUSE. I thought, Wow! How great that these precious people have someone associated with a national campaign that they can identify with. . . .

She added:

Down syndrome comes in a range of severities. Some people with Down can live self-sufficient lives. Others may be totally dependent. They spend their lives knowing they are different from other people. So it blessed me in ways I can’t even describe to be able to help bring them from the fringe into the bright spotlight that most often seems reserved only for the privileged.

It was after meeting all these amazing people that Todd and I proudly displayed the bumper sticker a very cool group from Arizona sent us, which read, My kid has more chromosomes than your kid!

Together, the pro-woman, pro-life sisterhood is telling the young women of America that they are capable of handling an unintended pregnancy and still pursue a career and an education. Strangely, many feminists seem to want to tell these young women that they’re not capable, that you can’t give your child life and still pursue your dreams. Their message is: “Women, you are not strong enough or smart enough to do both. You are not capable.”

The new feminism is telling women they are capable and strong. And if keeping a child isn’t possible, adroption is a beautiful choice. It’s about empowering women to make real choices, not forcing them to accept false ones. It’s about compassion and letting these scared women know that there will be some help there for them to raise their children in those less-than-ideal circumstances.

…

I want to help other women who are in the same situation. Women who may be thinking that these are less-than-ideal circumstances to have a child, and maybe I can just make this go away and we’ll pretend it never happened. I want to tell them that if you give life a chance, your life truly will change for the better. Todd and I know that Trig will teach is more than we’ll ever be able to teach him. He gives us such awesome perspective on what really matters.

You don’t need to agree with me about Sarah Palin’s impact to agree that we need to do more as Catholics, as neighbors, as Americans, to make sure that we are fully welcoming to our disabled brothers and sisters, from the moment of conception and diagnosis through all the days of their lives. In our parishes, our apartment buildings, wherever it is we encounter — or make sure we encounter — our brothers and sisters with special needs.

Respect Life Month is a good time to reflect on what we’re doing to build a culture of life welcoming of all. The kind of culture that this Texas high school seems to have embraced.

“I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States,” she wrote. “As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.”

I’m not surprised. In her present situation, she makes news simply by posting to Facebook. She can write books and deliver speeches and attract a large following. That’s not me criticizing her. I just think, why would you want to run for president and have the press vilify your family all over again? I think she made the right call.

Which politician does Newsweek like? Which does it hate? When does Newsweek hate women to be forceful? When does the magazine like women to be forceful?

Reminds me of last election …

And it reminds me of Newsweek’s treatment of certain women who succeed, compared to its treatment of certain other women who succeed …

It even reminds me of Newsweek‘s treatment of politicians’ wives. (Notice the title lines for each in this one.)

But it’s not only women, as I said. There are some politicians who are a joke to Newsweek (the Romney image imitates the Broadway poster for South Park’s “The Book of Mormon” show) and some politicians who are decidedly not a joke to Newsweek.

And while we’re on the subject of vice presidents who aren’t a joke, some of those non-joke veeps have been just plain nuts, according to Newsweek, and some have been, well, really rather wonderful.

What happens to journalistic entities that flaunt their bias so wildly? Last year, Newsweek almost went out of business. But the Daily Beast bought it. Here is how “Daily Beast-Newsweek” was doing as of Aug. 4.

I’m not saying this is because of their bias. I’m just saying their bias probably doesn’t help.

Tom Hoopes is writer in residence at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., where he teaches in the Journalism and Mass Communications department and edits the college’s Catholic identity speech digest, The Gregorian.

]]>http://www.catholicvote.org/the-world-according-to-newsweek/feed/24Unfortunately, Americans are evenly divided on morality of euthanasiahttp://www.catholicvote.org/american-evenly-divided-on-morality-of-euthanasia/
http://www.catholicvote.org/american-evenly-divided-on-morality-of-euthanasia/#commentsThu, 02 Jun 2011 16:18:24 +0000Joshua Mercerhttp://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=17685Welcome to the Lunchtime Reader, where we assemble important stories to keep your eyes on.

A fresh Gallup pollshows that Americans are evenly divided on the morality of physician-assisted suicide. According to the poll, 45% of Americans consider the practice “morally acceptable” while 48% considered it “morally wrong.” The poll comes just a day after news broke that the U.S. Bishopswould be considering issuing a statement outlining why euthanasia is immoral. The Gallup poll asked Americans on a variety of actions whether they were “morally wrong.” Married men and women having an affair ranked the highest at 91% and divorce was the lowest at 23% — above both research on human embryos 30% and gambling at 31%. Abortion was “morally wrong” to 51% of Americans, gay or lesbian relations at 39%, and pornography was considered “morally wrong” by two-thirds of Americans.

Planned Parenthoodis suing the State of South Dakota to prevent the July 1 implementation of a 72-hour waiting period before getting an abortion, the Catholic News Agency reported. “I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that they’ve filed a lawsuit,” State Rep. Roger Hunt told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader. “We’ve been expecting this and preparing for it.” CNA notes that the state established a Life Defense Fund, which defends South Dakota’s abortion laws with the help of private donations. The fund has more than doubled since the passage of the waiting period and counseling law.

Rep. Pete Stark, R-CA, a strident supporter of abortion who still professes a Catholic faith, has authored a bill that would effectively eliminate Catholic Charities and many other Christian-based groups from participating in adoption services anywhere in the United States unless they allowed same-sex couples to adopt children through their program. The bill would prohibit ‘discrimination in adoption or foster care placements’ based on sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status of any prospective adoptive or foster parent, or the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child involved. EWTN Newsnotes that the bill has no religious exemption clause. Stark told the Huffington Post he decided to introduce the measure because of the “homophobic opposition that has tried to decide that gay people aren’t suitable adoptive parents.” This bill’s prospects in the Republican-led House are extremely thin. But it could face a warmer reception in the Democratic-controlled Senate, where New York Sen. Kristin Gillibrand, D-NY, is expected to author a similar bill.

Today is the day that Mitt Romney is officially announcing his decision to run for President. But Sarah Palin took a shot at the former Massachusetts Governor from the Revolutionary War battlefield located just north of Boston. Peter Hamby of CNN reports that “Palin just ripped apart Romneycare at Bunker Hill.” Mitt Romney‘s health care plan in Massachusetts is considered his greatest liability in his campaign for the Republican nomination.

Wisconsin voters kicked pro-abortion Russ Feingold out of the Senate in 2010. Now the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is reporting that Feingold is considering another run in 2012 to replace retiring Sen. Herb Kohl. Of course, if that doesn’t work out, he can stay employed at a Catholic college. Marquette University, a Catholic college in Milwaukee, hired Feingold in January to teach at their law school.

]]>http://www.catholicvote.org/american-evenly-divided-on-morality-of-euthanasia/feed/2Breaking: Sarah Palin joins (almost) every other GOP Presidential hopeful in condemning Obama’s DOMA decisionhttp://www.catholicvote.org/breaking-sarah-palin-joins-almost-every-other-gop-presidential-hopeful-in-condemning-obama-doma-decision/
http://www.catholicvote.org/breaking-sarah-palin-joins-almost-every-other-gop-presidential-hopeful-in-condemning-obama-doma-decision/#commentsTue, 01 Mar 2011 20:46:08 +0000Thomas Petershttp://www.catholicvote.org/discuss/index.php?p=14773Almost the entire potential field of GOP candidates for the 2012 presidential nomination – with the lone exception of Governor Mitch Daniels – have issued statements condemning President Obama’s decision last week to stop defending the Defense of Marriage Act (passed by a bipartisan Congress and signed into law by President Clinton).

I mention in “America By Heart” that National Review is one of my favorite magazines, and I used excerpts of articles by a number of NR writers. Among them is Kathryn Jean Lopez, who always has such wonderful insight into cultural issues, particularly in regard to building a culture of life. I’m honored by her thoughtful review of “America By Heart” and especially by her including it in the same review with Pope Benedict’s new book. You can read her article here.

]]>http://www.catholicvote.org/palin-sends-pope-benedict-a-shout-out/feed/10So why did Barbara Bush take a jab at Sarah Palin?http://www.catholicvote.org/so-why-did-barbara-bush-take-a-jab-at-sarah-palin/
http://www.catholicvote.org/so-why-did-barbara-bush-take-a-jab-at-sarah-palin/#commentsMon, 22 Nov 2010 22:26:20 +0000Joshua Mercerhttp://catholicvote.org/discuss/?p=11784In a taped interview to air on Larry King tonight, the former first lady said about Sarah Palin:

“I sat next to her once. Thought she was beautiful — and I think she’s very happy in Alaska — and I hope she’ll stay there.”

Zing!

Well, seems obvious that Barbara Bush doesn’t think too highly of Sarah Palin. Usually when politicos compliment-then-attack Palin, they say something like, “Well, she gets lot of people excited” or “She certainly has lots of passion.”

But the only compliment Barbara Bush could muster before getting in her dig was to say that she’s pretty. I think it would have been classier of Barbara Bush to avoid the “she’s just a pretty face” slam.

One can appreciate the talents of Sarah Palin and still prefer someone else for the GOP nomination in 2012. I think very highly of her pro-life beliefs and that she took on the Republican establishment in Alaska by ousting Gov. Frank Murkowski. That said, I’m not convinced that she’s the best candidate to carry the Republican banner against President Barack Obama.

But the real question here: Why is Barbara Bush weighing in on this? Why is she getting in a jab on Sarah Palin?

There’s no doubt that Palin is a media star and the talk of much 2012 speculation. But why does Barbara Bush care one way or the other?

Once again, I think the family is setting the stage for Jeb Bush to run in 2012. If Jeb were to run, I think most of Romney’s supporters would flock immediately to the former Florida governor. So the only other person that would stand in the way of the nomination would be Sarah Palin.